The Ensley U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,402 describes an apparatus for blowing a pull-line into conduit for subsequent use in pulling cable therethrough. The Ensley apparatus includes a hand-held line cannister connected at its rear end to the output of a blower and at its forward end to the conduit. A spool of pull-line is enclosed within the hand-held cannister. A so-called "mouse" or line carrier is connected to an end of the line within the conduit. Pressurized air from the blower is directed through the cannister and conduit against the mouse to force the mouse through the conduit, carrying the pull-line with it.
Ensley places the line spool inside the cannister to reduce air pressure losses in the system needed to blow the mouse through the conduit.
The Dandurand U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,624 discloses a similar type of pull-line blowing apparatus wherein the line spool and air blower are disposed in the same housing.
A commercially available product sold under the trademark "Blo-rope" also uses a hand-held line cannister from which pull-line is dispensed as the mouse is forced through the conduit by air pressure from a blower connected to the rear of the cannister.